15+ Totally Free Coding for Kids Websites and Apps

Format: Online, game   Ages: 5+ years    Cost: Free

The home of Hour of Code, Code.org incudes interactive tutorials and projects for grades K-5 and 6-12, staring off with block coding before moving into Javascript, HTML and CSS.

It’s a comprehensive resource, perfect for learning to code in the classroom or at home.

Click through to learn more about code.org.

Format: Online, app   Ages: 5/8+ years    Cost: Free

For kids aged 8-16 years, Scratch provides a fabulous, intuitive platform where kids can program interactive stories, games, and animations using block programming — and share their creations with others in a supportive online community.

Younger children can learn too with Scratch Jr, created for 5-7 year olds.

Scratch is free to use for all coders, and schools can access the tools license-free.

Click through to get started with Scratch.

Format: Online   Ages: 8+ years    Cost: Free

Blockly teaches kids to code through a series of block programming puzzles. For each puzzle, kids drag and drop blocks of code to solve a specific challenge. Blockly is a simple tool created for children who have not had any prior experience with computer programming. Children need to be able to read independently to progress through the puzzles without adult assistance. 

Click through to give Blockly a go.

Format: Online, lessons    Ages: 6+ years    Cost: Free

Designed for use with students in elementary/primary school through to high school, Code for Life teaches everything from basic coding principles through to coding through game play using Blockly and later, Python. A library of comprehensive lesson plans offers a great resource for teachers.

Learn more at Code for Life.

Format: Online, learn coding through game play   Ages: 8+ years    Cost: Free

Gamester Mechanic uses fun, game based quests to help coders learn game design, with the goal to code and share their own video games. Free to play and learn at home and school, it’s a popular choice in Information & Computer Technology classrooms.

Check out Gamestar Mechanic here.

Format: Online, lessons   Ages: 8+ years    Cost: Free

Code Monster teaches kids Javascript programming through fun, interactive sessions with a cute, blue monster. The simple screen presents two boxes side-by-side – children code in one box and the result of their code is displayed in the other box.  Includes 59 progressive lessons. Children will need to be able to read independently to progress through the lessons without adult assistance.

Have some coding fun with Code Monster now.

Format: Online, coding lessons   Ages: 9+ years    Cost: Free

Khan Academy offers a clear instructive stream for kids wanting to learn how to code. Lessons are suitable for kids in the elementary/middle school grades, using Javascript language, they are quite detailed and a little technical. The site utilizes talk-throughs that kids can follow as they create their own programs in the site’s editor panel.

All together there are 40 talk-throughs, 35 challenges and 9 projects, that could take anywhere from 15 to 40 hours to complete.

Find out more at Khan Academy.

Format: Online, game and puzzle based coding   Ages: 11+ years    Cost: Free

CodinGame allows high schoolers to improve existing coding skills by exploring game play and creation. This free coding website helps students practice by solving puzzles, competing in coding battles, contributing to multi-player games, and learning coding in a variety of languages including C++, HTML, Java, Python, Ruby and Swift.

Even professional coders and adults enjoy this site with the free tutorials making it easy to get started with any coding task.

Get gaming at CodinGame.

Format: Online    Ages: 12+ years    Cost: Free

A sister site to Code Monster, Code Maven teaches teens and adults about Javascript through 59 interactive lessons – coders follow the instructions, typing the code as they go, with the results presented live on the screen in front of them.

Lessons are introduced at a faster pace and with more demanding challenges than Code Monster, introducing advanced concepts such as animating objects and creating a scoring system.

Get creating with Code Maven.

Format: Online   Ages: 13+ years    Cost: Free

Designed for high school age coders with experience, this website provides a platform with real coding problem solving challenges.

There is a wide variety of text based programming languages to choose from.

Start coding with Code Wars.

Format: App    Ages: K+    Cost: Free

Coders make Daisy the Dinosaur dance with simple drag and drop blocks that makes coding easy and fun for first timers. Your child can find solutions to a range of fun challenges while learning coding basics about sequencing, loops, and events – all for free!

You’ll find this fun coding app for kids in K-3 in the iTunes store.

Format: App    Ages: K+    Cost: Free

This free kids coding app is great for young learners. Spritebox helps children learn how to code first visually, and then manually. Coders embark on a journey to find the pieces of a broken rocket, exploring different worlds, meeting new characters, solving puzzles and unlocking cool outfits.

This app is free and can be downloaded via Google Play or iTunes.

Format: App    Ages: K+    Cost: Free

Code Karts is a pre-coding app that teaches younger coders that coding can be fun! Through the use of race cars, it visually shows children how coding works as they create the track for the car to race on. Not only are they coding, but they get to race in fun car races as well.

Free to download on iTunes, Google Play and Amazon.

Format: Online, app, video lessons, game play    Ages: K+     Cost: Free/Paid

This animal themed, pre-coding logic game helps kids to learn four fundamentals of computational thinking – decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction and algorithms through solving a series of puzzles.

Free to download on on iTunes.

Format: App    Ages: 10+ years    Cost: Free

Cargo-bot requires students to write programs to control a robotic arm to move a series of crates into position (to match the configuration provided). While the concept is simple, the game is challenging, requiring students to really think and problem solve to get the best score for each level. Students need to be able to read the instructions to use the app independently.

Available via iTunes.

Format: App    Ages: 10+ years    Cost: Free

A Google project, the Grasshopper app introduces JavaScript coding to beginners (there is the ability to skip ahead for those with some experience). The app includes four courses – What is Code?, Fundamentals, and two sections on Animations. The levels include short quizzes to assess understanding. The included challenges to solve are interesting and well designed. A solid app for older students.

Available for both Android and iOS users.

Format: App     Ages: 12+ years    Cost: Free

Swift Playgrounds uses step-by-step lessons and puzzles featuring a cute alien to consecutively build coding knowledge and skills. The program uses Swift, a highly simplified programming language created by Apple for the creation of apps for use on their operating systems. Swift Playgrounds is highly engaging for students and offers teachers a comprehensive library of support material.

Get coding with Swift Playgrounds.

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